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Another way to enjoy coffee

 
 
 
 

I was born and spent my pre-teen years on the island of Trinidad, in the Caribbean, and I have fond memories of coffee.  Not the beans, the fruit.

For some reason, we never had real coffee in the house.  My mom drank something called POSTUM, which was a kind of fake substitute made from ground-up car tires, or something like that.  At least it sure smelled like it.  With apologies, of course, to the POSTUM people, because I believe it's still on the market.

Anyway, as kids probably do everywhere, my friends and I would look for weird things to nibble on in the jungle.  And tropical jungles are a GREAT place to find weird things to nibble on.  Coffee plants grew wild here and there around our home, and we used to pick the red-ripe beans (only the ripe ones were edible) and eat the fleshy part before spitting out the seeds.  There wasn't much to eat, but we weren't doing it because we were hungry.  It was just fun.

Another way to enjoy coffee - boys playing in Trinidad

By the way, we also did the same thing with cocoa beans, and they were actually tastier.  The pods turned yellow or red when they were ripe, and were easy to crack open.  The procedure was the same;  eat the fleshy coating on the beans, and spit out the rest.  Little did we know in those early years that we were throwing away the best part!!

 So, there are other ways to enjoy coffee without brewing a cuppa joe.

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REVIEWS & COMMENTS

  • COOL!

    Son Ton | Sun, 01/22/2012 - 17:08

    Your post remind me of my childhood as well; I was not munching on coffee beans but it was nice memory with childhood friends! Thanks for sharing!

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  • NICE CHILDHOOD MEMORY, I

    intrepid510 | Wed, 12/07/2011 - 15:00

    Nice childhood memory, I only have memories of running through corn fields here in the states. I would very much like to try the coffee fruit at some point just for curosity.

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  • FUN POST!

    jbviau | Mon, 09/26/2011 - 21:26

    I remember my grandmother (American) drinking Postum. And my wife is from Trinidad! There are certainly lots of interesting fruits to nibble on the island.

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  • GROUND UP TIRES

    Wakeknot | Mon, 09/26/2011 - 19:32

    Hmm, I think I'll pass on ground up tires even though I usually claim I'll try anything!

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  • I WILL SKIP THE POSTUM

    EricBNC | Mon, 09/05/2011 - 17:36


    I will skip the Postum - life is too short to drink something like that instead of gourmet coffee.

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  • POSTUM ANYONE?

    Gazy | Sat, 03/06/2010 - 20:02

    According to Wikipedia, Postum is also "a US code name for polonium-210, used in the Urchin style nuclear weapon initiators, since 1945." Whatever that means.
    Go figure, there are five jars of Postum (expired, of course) for sale at Amazon; claimed to be the original blue label, they are posted at $209 each.
    You're right about children enjoying nature's gifts in a very candid manner. We used to do the same with the amazing array of tropical fruits in our countryside in Colombia.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  • CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

    Gabriela Cordon | Thu, 10/29/2009 - 16:26

    It was so nice to read your childhood memories... thank your for sharing. I heard about a bird in Brazil that does the same with yellow bourbon, and then they dry the berry in a natural process. Roasted coffee with this process tastes very delicate, with a balanced acidity and sweet notes.

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